Page 32 - RE-NJ

30 JANUARY 2024
building floor, as it continues its work in technologies in areas such as photonics, 6G, artificial intelligence and industrial automation.
That likely made SJP’s involvement even more critical, as a developer that has built out spaces for tech companies such
as Qualcomm,
iconectiv and
others. Steve
Pozycki, the
firm’s CEO, said
his team spent
months working
with Nokia “to
understand their
needs” in addition to simply helping them “get them confident on this location.”
“We’re doing a lot in the life science and technology sector because that’s what the market is, so it will be the state-of-the-art building for
research and development and electronic labs in the country, if not the world,” Pozycki said. “We’ve looked worldwide, and the vendors that are working with us to be able to deliver what they’re looking for are recruited globally and have worked on things that are similar to this.”
Paladino, for his part, joked that he “had been talking to Steve Pozycki for probably three decades” about partnering on a project. And it was with a broader goal in mind — even beyond attracting Nokia — when Devco and SJP revealed in May that they were teaming up to market the HELIX’s second phase.
“We established a relationship with SJP because we thought they had the right skill set, the right bandwidth and the right reputation to attract a major corporate tenant,” Paladino said. He noted
that Devco has focused largely on public-private partnerships in its history. SJP, on the other hand, brings decades of experience in build-to-suits for a long list of blue- chip companies, from Prudential Financial and Panasonic Corp. to Deloitte LLP.
“We could not have actually pulled this off without them,” he added.
Paladino called Nokia’s announcement “one of the four or five most significant events” in New Brunswick’s history, one that’s on par with Rutgers’ founding in 1766, Johnson & Johnson’s founding in 1886 and the company’s decision
to stay in the 1970s as other companies fled New Jersey’s cities. Understandably, the news has “accelerated our discussions with
a number of potential corporations that we have been dancing with,” he added, creating new momentum for
a third phase of the HELIX.
The city will likely build on that momentum as it looks ahead to a 2025 groundbreaking and a projected 2028 opening for Nokia Bell Labs’ new facility.
“By 2028, New Brunswick will be
a significantly different place than it is today,” Paladino said. “And
it will be another chapter, maybe two chapters, in probably the most significant urban redevelopment story in the country, for a city that was in decline in the ’70s.
“There are some New Jersey cities that have never pulled out of that,
but New Brunswick continues to grow in population and it continues to grow in its diversification of job opportunities and communities that it serves. It shows what’s possible when people are on the same page and are supportive of each other.” RE
Steve Pozycki
A PROACTIVE APPROACH
The news that Nokia Bell Labs
will build a new research and development hub in downtown
New Brunswick — ensuring that
it remains in New Jersey — was undoubtedly triumphant. But it was not lost on Gov. Phil Murphy that the company would be leaving its home of more than 80 years in the Murray Hill section of Berkeley Heights and New Providence.
He said as much at a Dec. 11 press event for the project, noting that he had spoken to Berkeley Heights Mayor Angie Devanney soon after the news broke.
“There’s another ‘one plus one equals three’ reality here, because I’m a bull on ... repurposing the Murray Hill campus,” Murphy said. “It’s a gem of a location. It’s got enormous upside.”
What that means for the iconic 200-acre complex is still to be
determined. Nokia Bell Labs’ new 360,000-square-foot lab and office tower at New Brunswick’s HELIX campus isn’t slated to open until 2028. In the meantime, state officials are taking a proactive approach with the Murray Hill property, which sits mostly within Berkeley Heights, hoping to repurpose the site and prevent it from becoming another obsolete suburban campus.
“Certainly, the idea of having more mixed uses together on campuses like that is probably the wave of the future,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of the state Economic Development Authority. “That’s got to be done contextually, appropriately and within the confines of what Berkeley Heights wants to see for its own community, but Berkeley Heights
is going to have a great partner in Governor Murphy and our team to make sure this transition is appropriate and preserves our ratables.
“Ultimately, this is a ratables question for any community, but Berkeley Heights in this case, to make sure there’s a replacement of that revenue for the town.”
State officials were sensitive to
the impact on the current host municipalities, Sullivan said, while noting that it’s “part and parcel of a broader philosophy” when it comes to so-called stranded assets. He
pointed to the EDA’s 21st Century Redevelopment Program, which has provided grants to help communities revitalize underutilized retail or office properties.
The authority last May also created a $25 million Stranded Assets Repositioning Investment platform, allowing it to invest directly in projects that would revitalize long- vacant, abandoned or blighted properties and turn them into vibrant community assets.
“If a developer wants to come along, whether it’s this campus
or another campus, and revision
it and repurpose it in a way that’s friendly and welcomed by the host community, we’ve got meaningful dollars to bring to bear there,” Sullivan said.
Notably, the Murphy administration has worked closely with Devanney in recent years, largely in connection with Fiserv Inc.’s high-profile move to the township in 2022. That
bodes well for repurposing the Nokia Bell Labs complex, he said, pointing to the municipality’s strong local leadership and a legislative delegation led by state Sen. Jon Bramnick.
“There’ll be some challenges and some headwinds,” Sullivan said, “but I think the future remains bright there.”
Tim Sullivan is CEO of the state Economic Development Authority.
Courtesy: Governor’s Office